At my first gig. Before that, I was always doubtful – I was never the class clown, and when I told my friends I wanted to be a standup, they were like, "Really? Good luck." So I did my first gig in Cheshire, where I knew nobody, in the mid-90s. People laughed, and it was the biggest adrenaline rush.

The consistency. Usually, as a standup, you're in a different city every night, with a different crowd, doing different material. Here, you do the same show in the same room for a month: it's as close as our job gets to being a safe bet.

And the worst?

It goes on too long. Like true travelling circus folk – which is what comedians are at heart – you do itch to move on.

As a woman in comedy, do you feel you've had to work twice as hard to be taken seriously?

Twenty times as hard. I used to get a lot of unpleasant sexual abuse when I did TV – people emailing to say they wanted to rape me, basically. I thought it was just me, but now, through social media, lots of other women have shared similar experiences (1). There are weirdos out there who have a problem with any woman that puts her head above the parapet.

Which artists do you most admire?

Kate Bush. I find the fact that she takes time over things very inspiring: she won't be rushed (2).

What advice would you give a young comedian?

Get a railcard, and learn to get changed in a toilet or a kitchen: this is not the glamorous end of showbusiness.

Is there an artform you don't relate to?

Once, I'd have said dance, but my husband (3) is a bit of a middle-class ponce and has made me start liking it.

In short

Born: Croydon, 1973.

Career: Has appeared regularly at the Edinburgh festival fringe since the 1990s: her standup show, Northern Soul, is at the Stand comedy club, Edinburgh, until 25 August. Is also a regular panellist on TV and radio shows, including Mock the Week and Quote … Unquote.

Low point: "Doing the worst-ever TV show a few years ago dressed as a schoolgirl. I live in terror of it turning up on YouTube."

High point: "Gigging while pregnant. There's something about a pregnant woman that terrifies audiences into submission."

Footnotes

(1) In the last week alone, there have been Twitter bomb threats on female journalists, and troll-attacks on everyone from academics and protesters to MPs.

(2) Her last album, 50 Words for Snow, took a cool six years to make. The one before that, featuring Rolf Harris playing the didgeridoo, took 12.